Overview
The model of award-focused innovation is a tried and true method of pushing the boundaries of science and technology. Examples like the $25,000 Orteig Prize won by Charles Lindbergh in 1927 and the $10 million Ansari XPRIZE won by Scaled Composites in 2004 exhibit how sending challenges to the world provides innovative solutions to our problems. The Open Innovation incentive prize challenges are designed to do the same — to harness the collective mind power of a community to innovate upon any problem or opportunity.
The purpose of the seven-week Open Innovation project is to gain a more hands-on experience of working with actual companies and the problems they want outsourced to the public. The five main Open Innovation challenges included on the STEM and CREATE Paths are HeroX, Procter & Gamble, General Electric, InnoCentive, LEO, and Unilever. Students have the opportunity to research each of the challenges and design a presentation based on whichever topic stands out to them the most.
The purpose of the seven-week Open Innovation project is to gain a more hands-on experience of working with actual companies and the problems they want outsourced to the public. The five main Open Innovation challenges included on the STEM and CREATE Paths are HeroX, Procter & Gamble, General Electric, InnoCentive, LEO, and Unilever. Students have the opportunity to research each of the challenges and design a presentation based on whichever topic stands out to them the most.
HeroXHeroX focuses not only on issues relating to businesses and companies, but also social issues. Additionally, the HeroX platform gives all innovators access to resources like forms and community conversations about the specific challenge. Some sample challenges include finding new ways to dispose of plastics, seeking a breakthrough in independent living for elderly people, and quantifying the nutritional content of any food.
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Procter & GambleProcter and Gamble’s Connect + Develop program helps initiate partnerships to meet today’s needs across the P&G business: for products, technology, in-store, eCommerce and the supply chain. Connect + Develop is designed to help innovators connect with P&G. Some topics of potential innovation include the following: family care, beauty and grooming, household care, packaging, and manufacturing.
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General ElectricGeneral Electric believes openness leads to inventiveness and usefulness. It is impossible for any organization to have all of the best ideas, so by collaborating with experts and entrepreneurs everywhere who share the same passion, it becomes more likely to solve some of the world's most pressing issues. By sourcing innovative ideas and applying GE’s scale and expertise, customer needs are being addressed more effectively and efficiently.
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InnoCentive |
LEO |
Unilever
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InnoCentive is a platform used for crowdsourcing ideas with a Solver network of 380,000+ creative minds. Solution seekers are able to post their difficult challenges while problem solvers are able to attempt to find solutions and win cash awards that can range from $20,000 to $100,000. Tackling these challenges can require anything from a short outline of a solution to a prototype across a wide array of disciplines.
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LEO (Leading Edge Only) is the world's
largest global innovation platform. Their mission is to find innovative solutions for their clients to help them solve their business challenges. Additionally, they aim to help innovators on their platform, by getting their voices heard in a crowded place. Their challenges range from Aerospace to Retail and everything in between. |
Unilever is a global company that sells fast-moving consumer goods with the purpose of making sustainable living commonplace. Unilever's Future Leaders League provides four international business challenges that promote Unilever's growth efficiently, effectively, and sustainably. Participating in these challenges can lead to cash prizes and internship/job opportunities.
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What Design Can Do |
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What Design Can Do is a platform for innovative design solutions to today's most pressing issues. This platform believes in the power of design and creativity to transform society. Money, government or sciences can't solve complex problems on their own. Check out the different challenges that are available!
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Previous Projects
Spring 2020
Share My Plate
Group Members: Liam Collier, Brayden Illingworth, Lily Larmon, Madison Odegaard,
Meaghan Wharton
Description: According to the HeroX challenge (https://www.herox.com/foodforlife?from=explore) 800 million people in the world do not have enough food to lead a healthy active life. Everyday there are millions of tons of food thrown away as waste at hotels, hospitals, restaurants, airplanes, airports and even
at our own homes. Share My Plate offers an App that allows grocery stores, homeless shelters, hotels, catering services, community members, etc. to communicate about abundance of food. Pick-up times, locations, and foods available can be specified. The App shows volunteering opportunities and needs at homeless shelters while also allowing volunteers to communicate through the App to deliver food.
Meaghan Wharton
Description: According to the HeroX challenge (https://www.herox.com/foodforlife?from=explore) 800 million people in the world do not have enough food to lead a healthy active life. Everyday there are millions of tons of food thrown away as waste at hotels, hospitals, restaurants, airplanes, airports and even
at our own homes. Share My Plate offers an App that allows grocery stores, homeless shelters, hotels, catering services, community members, etc. to communicate about abundance of food. Pick-up times, locations, and foods available can be specified. The App shows volunteering opportunities and needs at homeless shelters while also allowing volunteers to communicate through the App to deliver food.
Spring 2019
No Heat Seats
Group Members: Rachel Miller, Claire Martin, Jack Stellhorn, Ryan Wilczynski
Description: No Heat Seats solves a crucial problem in the bike and scooter community: dangerously hot leather seats. Their product is the "No Heat Seat". It is a lightweight, heat resistant seat cover developed specifically for motorcycles and scooters. All it takes is simply stretching the No Heat Seat across the existing seat to act as a cover. These covers are composed of AMI-THERM Needled Cloth. This is a heat resistant fabric made with safe, non-irritating aramid fibers. Additionally, a layer of reflective material lies underneath the fabric, on the portion that is on top of the seat, to reflect rather than absorb any sunlight that shines through the AMI-THERM Needled Cloth. No Heat Seats protects their customers from burns or the potential of being stranded.
Description: No Heat Seats solves a crucial problem in the bike and scooter community: dangerously hot leather seats. Their product is the "No Heat Seat". It is a lightweight, heat resistant seat cover developed specifically for motorcycles and scooters. All it takes is simply stretching the No Heat Seat across the existing seat to act as a cover. These covers are composed of AMI-THERM Needled Cloth. This is a heat resistant fabric made with safe, non-irritating aramid fibers. Additionally, a layer of reflective material lies underneath the fabric, on the portion that is on top of the seat, to reflect rather than absorb any sunlight that shines through the AMI-THERM Needled Cloth. No Heat Seats protects their customers from burns or the potential of being stranded.
myPlanet
Group Members: Paola Sommer, Matt Noble, Karah Block, Hannah Taylor
Description: myPlanet is a recycling initiative that aims to connect the community by partnering with local businesses to promote recycling with reward-based incentives such as points, coupons, and deals. Once myPlanet receives recyclables, they participate in processing the materials to sell back to manufacturers. In this way, myPlanet is providing an abundance of easily accessible recycling receptacles for students and residents on campuses, or living in apartments, while also providing recyclable material for companies that can reuse it. This is beneficial as many companies have not developed their own processing system for recycled materials, allowing them to outsources that process through myPlanet.
Description: myPlanet is a recycling initiative that aims to connect the community by partnering with local businesses to promote recycling with reward-based incentives such as points, coupons, and deals. Once myPlanet receives recyclables, they participate in processing the materials to sell back to manufacturers. In this way, myPlanet is providing an abundance of easily accessible recycling receptacles for students and residents on campuses, or living in apartments, while also providing recyclable material for companies that can reuse it. This is beneficial as many companies have not developed their own processing system for recycled materials, allowing them to outsources that process through myPlanet.
Litmus Treads
Group Members: Abby Feeder, Todd Harrison, Noah Patterson, Jackson Farris, Parker Johnson
Description: Litmus Treads was born of a challenge presented by Kal Tire. Currently, a slow, manual effort is required to analyze tire treads, and the results are often imprecise. Litmus Treads offers a solution that is fast and accurate. The solution is a keychain with a barcode that is a unique identifier for the tire company’s records. This, combined with a foam insert to place between the top of the treads on the tire, allows for easy measuring of both tread quality and tire pressure, as the insert would change color based on the pressure applied to it. This would result in information on the height of the treads and the relative pressure of the tire, acquired in an efficient amount of time.
Description: Litmus Treads was born of a challenge presented by Kal Tire. Currently, a slow, manual effort is required to analyze tire treads, and the results are often imprecise. Litmus Treads offers a solution that is fast and accurate. The solution is a keychain with a barcode that is a unique identifier for the tire company’s records. This, combined with a foam insert to place between the top of the treads on the tire, allows for easy measuring of both tread quality and tire pressure, as the insert would change color based on the pressure applied to it. This would result in information on the height of the treads and the relative pressure of the tire, acquired in an efficient amount of time.
Spring 2018
Plush Flush
Group Members: Matt Miliotis, Peyton Strickland, Matthew Trzesniewski, Cole Wagenhals
Description: To complete the HeroX Project, this team found a problem on the HeroX website that involved assisting the elderly. Plush Flush is designed with the elderly who had trouble using the restroom in mind. It is centered around the struggles some have standing from the toilet. This product is a revolutionary seat cushion that reduced the overall amount of force necessary to stand from the toilet.
Description: To complete the HeroX Project, this team found a problem on the HeroX website that involved assisting the elderly. Plush Flush is designed with the elderly who had trouble using the restroom in mind. It is centered around the struggles some have standing from the toilet. This product is a revolutionary seat cushion that reduced the overall amount of force necessary to stand from the toilet.
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SaferU
Group Members: Ben Germaine, Daniel Kehl, Mary Robinson, Giovanna Scott-McCabe, Caroline Stallings
Description: SaferU is an app created based off of the Women’s Safety XPrize challenge found on the HeroX website. This app allows you to discreetly contact specified emergency services or any previously uploaded emergency contacts. It can also send your exact location to them as well as store any basic health information. Furthermore, this app even allows you to quickly search any type of driver service located near your area. The point being that if someone is ever in trouble and needs help quickly, this app can be used in a discreet way to have the right people notified.
Description: SaferU is an app created based off of the Women’s Safety XPrize challenge found on the HeroX website. This app allows you to discreetly contact specified emergency services or any previously uploaded emergency contacts. It can also send your exact location to them as well as store any basic health information. Furthermore, this app even allows you to quickly search any type of driver service located near your area. The point being that if someone is ever in trouble and needs help quickly, this app can be used in a discreet way to have the right people notified.
What Matters
Group Members: Allie Burton, McKinley Hamilton, Emma Ingram, Lauren Pan, Kira Wence
Description: What Matters was designed to help people meet their money-saving goals, whether that be a personal item or a charity. On this application, the customer can select their savings goal from the feed, which includes advertisements from companies and charities, or they could write in their own goal. As they save money in little ways, they set aside the money they saved for their goal on the app. Gamification was also introduced by letting users add friends on the app and compete based on how much they are saving toward their goal (measured as a percentage, because everyone has different goals). Along with competing with friends on the app, there are also joint saving goals, where the customer could add friends or family to a goal. This functionality would be perfect for a family saving to go on a cruise; everyone could be added to a goal and work together to save. In addition, there is a notification feature, occasionally giving the customer a money saving idea or telling them about a new savings goal that was introduced. All in all, this application was designed to fit the saving needs of many different people while encouraging charitable donation.
Description: What Matters was designed to help people meet their money-saving goals, whether that be a personal item or a charity. On this application, the customer can select their savings goal from the feed, which includes advertisements from companies and charities, or they could write in their own goal. As they save money in little ways, they set aside the money they saved for their goal on the app. Gamification was also introduced by letting users add friends on the app and compete based on how much they are saving toward their goal (measured as a percentage, because everyone has different goals). Along with competing with friends on the app, there are also joint saving goals, where the customer could add friends or family to a goal. This functionality would be perfect for a family saving to go on a cruise; everyone could be added to a goal and work together to save. In addition, there is a notification feature, occasionally giving the customer a money saving idea or telling them about a new savings goal that was introduced. All in all, this application was designed to fit the saving needs of many different people while encouraging charitable donation.
